The ownCloud Trashbin (files_trashbin) permanently deletes files according to users’ storage quotas and file ages. When a user deletes a file it is not immediately removed from your ownCloud server, but goes into the Trashbin. Then the user has the options to un-delete the file, or to delete it permanently.

As the ownCloud server administrator, you have two occ commands for permanently deleting files from the Trashbin manually, without waiting for the normal aging-out process:

trashbin:expire deletes only expired files according to the trashbin_retention_obligation setting in config.php. The default setting is auto, which keeps files in the Trashbin for 30 days, then deletes the oldest files as space is needed to keep users within their storage quotas. Files may not be deleted if the space is not needed.

The default is to delete expired files for all users, or you may list users in a space-delimited list: